In recent years the widespread adoption by the general public of personal computers and digital cameras combined with enhanced interconnectivity between these devices has created a corresponding desire in these users to record digital home movies and, additionally, to edit these recordings to create home-made family DVDs. Of course, it is well known that a properly edited video work is much more entertaining and enjoyable for the viewer than raw (i.e., unedited) video footage which often contains sections of unusable or irrelevant material. Additionally, to the extent that background music, effects, etc., are added to the project, the work can take on a near-professional quality which, for some individuals, is its own reward.
Of course, the software industry has been quick to recognize that the increasing adoption of and growing interconnectivity between digital cameras and personal computers has created a marketing opportunity. More specifically, there are now a multitude of video editing programs which range in capabilities from high end feature-rich software—that is directed more toward the expert to lower/reduced functionality programs that are designed for the consumer market.
Driven largely by demands from the consumer market segment, there has been a general tendency in video editing software products to streamline the user interface and simplify program operations to a point where even the novice user can use the program. These advances in software usability have helped to further spur the amazing growth in personal computer-based digital multimedia editing.
It is well known that the video creation process typically involves selection and arrangement of a number of separate video clips into a single video work. During this process, the user will usually sort, cut, and arrange the video materials, add transitions and effects and, optionally, add background music to enhance the video work.
However, it seems that this last step—i.e., adding background music—has been largely neglected by the video editing software industry. Indeed, in those cases where some provision is made for the user to perform some basic audio editing of the video work, the tools that are offered within most video editing programs tend to be somewhat rudimentary, at least when viewed in comparison with dedicated audio editing programs. This oversight seems particularly glaring in view of the recognized importance of the soundtrack to the movie experience. A movie soundtrack contributes in many ways to the movie or video work including, for example:                Music helps set the mood for a movie scene in the same way that, for example, lighting is often used to set the mood for cinematography;        Music and additional sound effects help to drive the storyline by reinforcing the visual images (e.g., when one actor “hits” another a “thud” or similar sound is added in synchronization with the actors' movements to emphasize that action); and,        Music helps set the time period and geographic locale (“period” music is often used to indicate the movie time period—e.g., a harpsichord playing a Bach composition could be used to indicate a renaissance setting—and, similarly, geographically distinct music is often used to place the setting in a particular region—e.g., oriental background might be used when the setting is Japan).        
Most professionals that work in the movie business understand that the soundtrack—which might include ambient/background sounds, sound effects, music, etc.—can be as important to the success of a movie as its visual component. However, the average user of video editing software may not recognize this fact and may only deal with the audio portion of his or her video clips when forced to do so or as an afterthought, e.g., to cover instances where the actual video soundtrack picks up noise during recording to the point where the user has created a replacement track. That is, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the audio track of home video recordings often include content that is not wanted, e.g., dialogue from strangers who were standing near the camera at the time of the recording, noise from nearby motor vehicles, wind noise, etc. To help overcome these sorts of ambient noise, video editing software often limits the user to filtering, cutting (muting), or replacing the existing soundtrack at designated locations. As compared with the video editing features in the same program, the range of audio editing capabilities tends to be quite limited.
As a consequence, some users have turned to stand-alone software that might offer, by way of example only, technology such as so-called “soundtrack generation”. In soundtrack generation, a soundtrack is algorithmically created according to a strictly defined running time limitation and additionally, in some cases a “mood” parameter that may have been specified by the user before the music creation process is initiated. At first glance, these sorts of programs might seem to deliver all the functionality that is needed for the average user to edit the audio portion of his or her data. However, upon close examination these techniques can be seen to deliver only a limited solution to the above-mentioned problem.
One drawback to the conventional soundtrack generator is that the resulting soundtrack is defined in terms of a single global parameter setting (e.g., “emotion”), which is chosen to match the general subject matter of the entire video work. However, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the emotions, situations, and scenes in a consumer video project usually change several times during its running time, and in the case of a much shorter home movie, these changes tend to occur at a higher frequency. Of course, it is the rare video work that is amenable to soundtrack creation using a single global setting of an emotion parameter. One obvious consequence of a misfit between a soundtrack and a video work is that favourable impact that a soundtrack might have is greatly diminished as compared with a musical work that is closely matched to the video action.
Thus, what is needed is a method for enabling a user to automatically create a music soundtrack that is shaped to match in a general way the action in the video portion of the work.
Heretofore, as is well known in the media editing industry, there has been a need for an invention to address and solve the above-described problems. Accordingly it should now be recognized, as was recognized by the present inventors, that there exists, and has existed for some time, a very real need for a system and method that would address and solve the above-described problems.
Before proceeding to a description of the present invention, however, it should be noted and remembered that the description of the invention which follows, together with the accompanying drawings, should not be construed as limiting the invention to the examples (or preferred embodiments) shown and described. This is so because those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains will be able to devise other forms of the invention within the ambit of the appended claims.